


Hard Reset

by RiYuYami



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Victorian, Alternate Versions of Characters, Multi, Time Travel, dirk rambles a whole hell of a lot throughout this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-05
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-01-11 05:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1169415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiYuYami/pseuds/RiYuYami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You have no idea how you ended up in this time period but apparently it's 1879 in London, England and your only help in this time period, or alternate reality, is a guy who looks just like your best bro/boyfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose 1879 because many historical events in the Victorian era had already taken place, plus by this time the telephone and the light bulb had been invented, and many works of famous fictions (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Charles Dickens' stories) had been published, along with The Origin of Species. This was also a huge era where exploration was really popular.
> 
> However, even with that date set, the slang I use in this is from the Victorian era in general, meaning it can include terms that would be used for another couple of years.

You can't remember what the hell happened exactly.

One minute, you and your best friends are checking out a crypt in the Land of Crypts and Helium, the next you're waking up in a cold, snowy alley in God-Only-Knows-Where. You kind of remember looking at some weird, old mural in the crypt with Roxy and you might have accidentally touched something on the wall, a switch perhaps?

But that's about it, everything else is a huge hazy mess, like when a VHS tape ends and goes to that terrible, static shit at the end with the horrible noise. Uhg, your head is buzzing right now so that white noise crap is happening right now.

"Fuck..." You groan, rubbing your head a bit as you look up at the gray sky above you. You smell the heavy scent of smoke and garbage all around you. As stated before, you're in an alley way and there's a huge cloud of chimney smoke over your head, so this basically explains the disgusting smells.

"Hal, you pain in the ass, tell me what happened. Where are we?" You asked your AI system.

There is no reply, which is weird because Hal always replies. "Hal?" You try to activate your shades but... nothing. There is nothing on the screen. No computer background, no icons, no Auto Responder. The lenses are blank, like they were before you installed your computer programs into it.

This is bad.

Blinking, you suddenly take notice to voices, ones you've never heard before. Sitting up a bit, you see at the entrance to your current location people walking by. They don't seem to notice you at all but you sure as hell notice them. Everyone who walks by is dressed in such old clothing, as if from a Dickens novel or something of the sort.

This doesn't make sense, there shouldn't be humans, you and your friends are the only ones that remain, aside from your alternate universe guardians who are in the game with you. Was this a new planet? Or a strange copy of Earth? Maybe even a new universe? What were you to make of all of this? For the moment, you are going to just assume that this is Earth because it seems a lot like it.

Carefully, you get up and hide behind some old crates left to rot, watching and listening. British accents, sounding somewhat like Jake's own (even though you think he fakes it), helps you come to the realization that you could possibly be in the British Isles, or in a British territory. You would have assumed tourists, just in case you were somewhere else on Earth, but the clothing pretty much cancelled that assumption. But maybe this was one of those reenactments humans use to do in fake recreations of historical time periods, or there was a festival going on. Again, this was probably not the case. The conversations you hear are not interesting, just chit-chat you hear for only mere moments as they pass your hiding spot.

Someone mentions the queen. Queen, what queen? Shit, that's right; England was ruled by a queen, but what queen? Judging by the clothing, you were guessing Victoria.

Holy shit, were you back in time? I mean, well, shit, you've time traveled before. How else did you and Roxy join Jane and Jake in the year 2011? Time travel shouldn't really shock you, especially with all the shit you've done with it, like chatting with Jane and Jake and decapitating your own head to send back in time.

But this was much different, you don't remember how you time traveled and you're sure as hell aware it wasn't because of a flower or a red box. You need to get out of here; you need to find a way back to LOCAH and your friends!

But how do you get out of this alley without being spotted? You're not exactly dressed for this era, or, for that matter, this weather. Fuck, it's freezing and you're just in skinny jeans and a t-shirt. You quietly rap to yourself, trying to open your captchalogue deck to see if you have warmer clothing in there.

Nothing.

No clothing, no indication that your raps worked, no Tech-Hop Fetch Modus at all.

You were fucked, so very fucked.

Hal didn't work in this era and neither did your captchalogue deck, or even your strife specibus after you gave that a try. Hal and your sylladex were technology from decades in the future; there was no way that they would function in this era of human history. Shit, how were you going to contact your friends or get out of this place?

Glancing around your surroundings, you tried to find a way out. Behind you was a dead end, and ahead of you was the entrance where there were too many people walking around. If you ran out with what you're wearing, they would think of you as a mental person or a complete weirdo.

Your only way to escape without being seen is to flashstep and parkor up the walls to get to the rooftops. At least this way you could jump around without calling too much attention to yourself. If someone saw you on the roof, they might see you as a chimney sweep. With a careful jump, you bounce from wall to wall until getting on top of a roof.

You almost slip on the thin layer of snow that had been forming on the flat roof of the building, but you caught yourself at the last second. Glancing around, you could see buildings and rooftops, not really anything too interesting to the bird's-eye-view of the c- oh hell, there's a lot of English landmarks in the distance, you're in London. 

Great, you're in Victorian London, whatever fucking year this is. How the hell did this happen? No time to ponder on these thoughts, you've got to find somewhere to go from here, a place to hide for a bit and maybe warm up, it's so cold. Well, standing around will do you no good, so with a strong leap, you move to the next building.

-

You spend an hour bouncing from roof top to roof top, finally ending up at the River Thames, exhausted and freezing. You take a seat on a bench, street lights are lit around you, and the sky is turning dark with a splash of reds, oranges, and purples in the distance from where the sun was setting.

It's almost evening and you are so lost that you don't know what to do. You're actually getting pretty freaked out right now; you were in an era you only briefly bothered to study so you're not really sure what you need to do. Damnit, you wish Jake was here, he could help you out. He understands old-timey shit way better then you, especially for things like this.

You remove your shades and rub at your face, you're so cold. You're gonna die here, you just know it. This was a fucking cold era, and you're here during a fucking London winter.

Perfect, you've survived your whole life on your own in the middle of an ocean, fighting off the batterwitch’s drones, only to die from being under dressed in the cold weather.

"Great Scot man, aren't you freezing in such an odd outfit?"

Holy shit, that sounds like Jake! Was he here too!? Oh God, you hope so.

Glancing up, you turn to your left and see someone standing at least fifteen feet from you. He looks just like Jake, only... not.

For one, his glasses are small and the frames are round, not those dorky, big square ones he wears. He is dressed in a thick, black jacket and a top hat is on his head, though there is an emerald band around it. His skin is a light tan, not the dark, rich color you're so use to seeing on Jake. But his teeth are the same, as are his eyes.

Those emerald eyes were exactly the same as your best bro's.

You snap out of your little trance of looking at this stranger and turn your head away, looking at the wet ground. "Yeah, I'm pretty cold right now. I don't have any warm clothing at all." Which was true, you remembered you had no need for warm clothing when you lived in your apartment so you never put any in your specibus. You would have remembered this if that stupid program worked, so it’s pointless either way to try and use it in this situation.

"Are you homeless, young man? Hm, you look too clean to be a mumper, but still. You'll catch your death out in this dreadful weather, heard from the local newsie that there will be quite the snow storm tonight, turn this dreary huey a fresh shade of white to mask the grey!" He laughed, shit, he even laughs like Jake.

"Riiiiiiight." You draw out, glancing at him out of the corner of your eyes, watching as he walked right up to you. "I don't suppose you have a spare coat on you?"

"Ah, no, sadly I do not, sir. But I am in a jolly good mood and feel like helping a poor lad out. Would you care to spend the evening at my dwelling? A warm home and a hot meal should help warm up your person. Good for the soul, good for the body, good for the mind, that’s what I say!”

"You wish to help out a complete stranger?"

The Jake-look-alike laughed once more and slapped your back, making you wince from the sharp contact against your chilled, tense skin. "I am a good man and a gentleman! I help those in need and you look to be in much need as of this moment, my homeless friend!"

He then paused and looked at you in curiosity. "You are homeless, yes? Because if not, then you are a bit of a wanker for even thinking it’s wise to be out and about in this weather in such a state of dress as you are now. Though I must say, you are a bit bricky for being out here anyway."

"I am not a wanker, but technically speaking, yes, I am homeless as of this moment."

"Then come with me, I will provide you with a home for the night! Can’t very well have you freeze out here, which would be most dreadful, so very dreadful indeed!" He grinned at you.

You only look at him before sighing. "Guess I have no choice, except dying of the cold if I do not accept your offer." You stand up and hold out your hand to him. "Dirk Strider."

He blinks but smiles, griping your hand firmly before shaking it. "Strider, eh? Interesting, I know a Strider; you look rather similar to him too. I am Jacob English!" He takes a bow, even removing his hat.

Jacob English, wow.

"It’s nice to meet you, Jacob." You reply, staring at him.

"It’s very nice to meet you as well, kind sir. Come; let us return to my home! I wish to see what my sweet little lady made for supper, I am sure it's going to be good, like every meal she makes! You shall join me for this tightener, to which you cannot say no to because it has already been decided!" Jacob smiles at you. You only nod, snatching up your shades and hang them from the collar of your shirt as you follow after him.

-

Jacob was able to hail down a carriage that took you across the city to a very lovely neighborhood. Probably high class, judging from how Jacob is dressed, he is rich, so of course he'd live in the ritzy part of London.

The carriage drops you two off in front of a large home, and your new friend (can you even call him that?) pays the carriage driver before smiling at you. "Welcome to my home." He said as he takes your arm, linked with his own, leading you through a set of gates and up the sidewalk to the porch. He unlocks the door and leads you inside.

It's warm inside, and you are in bliss. There is a heavy, delicious aroma in the air, like that of roast beef and fresh bread. Someone had made a home cooked meal, must be the work of this 'little lady' that Jacob spoke of.

"Dear! I'm home!" Jacob says as he removes his jacket, hanging it from a hook on the coat rack by the door. You glance at him, seeing that he is wearing a white shirt and a rich, vibrant green vest with gold trimmings on it. A little part of you wonders if that vest is made of that dangerous green dye that poisoned people but you're sure it's not, it's not as vibrate as that color. You wonder why you even bothered to think of that.

Well, maybe it’s just you remembering some knowledge of this era, you did read up on some of it, or at least any facts that were cool and/or weird. You don’t know, everything is really confusing to you and there’s a strong chance you might have gotten a mild head injury. Yeah, you’ll blame it on that.

You hear footsteps and watch as someone comes down the hall and-holy shit it's Jane.

She's the same size and build as your friend, even has the same dark locks and beautiful cyan eyes, but she's dressed in such bland clothing with an apron covering them. Jacob leans down and gives her a hug, kissing both of her cheeks.

"Welcome home Jacob." This girl smiled at him before looking at you, shocked. "Jacob, there's a strange man in the house!"

"Now Janie," shit, her name is a variation of Jane, like Jacob’s is to Jake’s, "don't be rude. This is my guest for the evening! Janie, this is Dirk Strider. Dirk, this is my fiancée, Janie Crocker."

God fucking damnit...

Janie looked at you before smiling and giving you a curtsy. "Charmed to meet you, Dirk Strider." She said politely, being a good host it seems since you are apparently deemed a 'guest' by Victorian Jake.

You bow to her in return. "Dirk Strider, madam, though Jacob has already stated my name. Not really sure why I repeated it.”

"I’ll chalk it up to you being a proper gentleman.” Janie smiled at you.

“I'm going to get this lad dressed up in warmer clothing; he's chilled to the bone and in need of something warm!" Jacob smiled at her before pushing you towards the stairs. "Do you mind wearing my clothing? I hope you don't since you will be wearing them anyway!" He laughed, wow, he's really cheerful.

This version of your boyfriend leads you into a bedroom, a rather simple looking room that seemed to hold class, to an extent. Yes, there was fancy furniture but it was so simple in design. It's like, yeah I'm rich but I really like having things that don't have designs or lace or some shit like that.

Jacob happily moved over to a large wardrobe and opened it, glancing about through the outfits he had inside of it before pulling out a simple dress shirt. Then he opened up his dresser, grabbing some black pants and what looked to be suspenders.

"These might work for you, we're of different body types but I'm sure these shall work just fine while your... other clothing dry." He eyes your t-shirt and skinny jeans with curiosity once more, right; he's never seen anything like this. These things have probably never been thought up yet. It is rather strange how they were still on your person, existing, while your technology was useless and unavailable.

Time travel is fucking confusing, but at least they’re there and you’re not naked.

But you’re about to be.

“Ah, I should explain,” you’re gonna lie your way through this, “my clothes are that of the working man, of Texas. You see, I’m from America and I worked there, in a factory, this is what we wore, I apologize for the oddness of my outfit, but it’s all I have left after being robbed when I arrived here.”

“Great snakes! That’s rather terrible that you were caught in a half-inch, oh this town is so terrible for that sometimes, what a shame. But I guess being from America explains the accent, haha! I figured you must be from there, you’re very much not an Englishman now, are you?”

“Not in the least.”

“Well, if you’re to live in this country, you’re going to have to become one! Now, here you go, these should work for you.” You took the clothing from him and he pointed to where the bathroom was, though he called it a wash closet.

You glanced about inside of the room after closing the door. Well, there was an old looking tub, a sink, a mirror, and a strange looking toilet. You shrugged and got yourself dressed. The pants fit alright, you guess, but Jacob is much shorter then you so at least five inches of your legs are exposed, and you don’t even have the pants hiked up or anything. They are loose around your waist a little bit, he might be shorter but he has more hip then you, since you’re thin.

The shirt is tight around the shoulders and short on you, but again, that’s alright. You put the suspenders on and look at yourself in the mirror, only seeing part of your chest and up in the circular mirror.

You look a mess, your hair is all over from the wind and the snow had made it wet. Frowning, you try to finger comb your hair, getting it to stick up a bit as it usually does, but its limp. Great, just fucking great, you think to yourself as you set your shades on the sink’s counter top. You probably shouldn't wear them, it might raise some questions.

“Mr. Strider!” You hear Jacob call from the other side of the door. “The misses says that supper is ready! Are you dressed yet?”

“Yeah, hold on.” You take one last look in the mirror before opening the door, almost hitting him in the face with it. How long had he been standing out there waiting for you, what a weird guy… “Alright, I’m ready.”

“Gosh, those clothes are small on you.” Jacob commented as he looked you up and down. “Oh well, they’ll work for now! Come, it’s time to eat.” He rubbed his hands together, licking his lips and looking hungry, like a little kid about to dig into a piece of cake.

You almost laughed at this, that was a really dorky thing Jacob just did. The two of you walked out of the bedroom and to another room downstairs. Obviously it was the dining room, since there was a dinner table with food placed on the surface of the table. Janie was already sitting down, Jacob took his place at the head of the table and you sat down across from the young lady who looked so much like your friend.

“So, Mr. Strider, how do you know Jacob?” Janie asked as the three of you began to eat. You finished your bite of bread before replying.

“He found me sitting by the river and brought me in so I wouldn’t freeze to death. I’m homeless.”

Janie frowned a bit. “You’re homeless? What happened?”

“I came here for work, wasn’t doing too well in Texas and I needed a change of scenery, and I arrived here a few days ago, only to get mugged. I’ve been hiding out on the streets and I’m surprised I hadn’t froze to death in that time.”

“I’m surprised too!” Jacob exclaimed, though Janie told him to settle down and not to talk with food in his mouth. He finished his bite, apologizes to the young lady, before returning his attention to you. “The weather has been most dreadful lately, cold as the ninth circle of hell, I’ll tell you what. But with that gonoph business, did you not call hot beef on him?”

“Hot... what?” You raised an eyebrow, what the hell did that mean?

“You know, yell that you were robbed, blow the blue bottle as to your predicament with the fucking thief.”

Janie frowned at Jacob. “Jacob, language! We have a guest!”

“Oh, most sorry for the slip of the tongue on that one, I try not to have a dirty tongue.”

You could only stare at him. “To be perfectly honest with you, I have no idea what you’re even saying.”

“He asked if you reported your robbery to the police.” Janie informed you, to which you replied with a shake of your head.

“I figured they wouldn’t help an American like myself, I look like a thief myself probably.”

The brunets nodded, quietly agreeing that you were a bit suspicious looking with those clothes you wore. “Hey, hey, don’t go around thinking that I am a thief. I don’t even know how to pickpocket. I’m not going to rob you, you have nothing I want.”

“I trust you!” Jacob smiled at you. “You may look like a strange fellow, but I believe you to be good and true to your word.” You almost snorted; you’ve been making up lies about what happened to you this whole time. “What say you Janie? Do you trust Dirk?”

“A young lady does not make assumptions of her guests just yet.” Was Janie’s reply, which you figure is the best you’re going to get out of her.

Jacob grinned at this. “Bully! Say love, did you happen to partake in the art of baking a shiver and shake?”

This made his fiancée perk up. “Why yes, I did! We can have it after dinner!”

You were rather confused as to what in the world Jacob said, uhg, his old timey slang was more confusing then you own English’s terms. You quietly ate your dinner while the other two spoke of some nonsense that you didn’t give two shits about, waiting for them to finish. You were tired and wanted to lay down, but it seems that Jacob was keeping you at the table after it was cleared.

He smiled at you once again. “You are going to love this; Janie is just the best at baking!”

You have a strong feeling you know exactly what it is that she baked. And you were right when you saw her walk into the room with a small, round cake. It was frosted in white and she sat it on the table, carefully cutting it. She placed a delicate slice onto a small dessert plate, passing it to you. It was white cake and looked really good.

Cutting a small piece of it off, you took a bite and almost smiled, it taste just like a cake made by Jane. You frowned slightly; you missed your friends, especially right now. This Jake was really happy, didn’t seem exhausted with you. And this Jane was with Jake, happy, unlike your Jane who put on a mask when she saw you and Jake together, acting like it didn’t bother her.

“Boy Dirk, you seem like quite the right muck snipe right now, is the cake not to your liking?” You hear Jacob say, shit, you must have looked upset, thinking about your friends in comparison to these two.

“It’s good, it just reminds me a lot of my friend’s baking. I’m just feeling a bit homesick, that’s all Jacob so don’t worry.”

He looked at you before giving a nod and returning to his own slice of cake. You return to slowly eating your own in silence.

-

It is around ten in the evening, you’ve been in the guest room since dinner, only having left when Janie said you should take a hot bath to warm yourself up a bit more. It took you ten minutes to figure out how the water system works for the old bathtub. You did spend a moment or two, worried about lead piping, but then you realize that these were copper and you’re over-thinking again.

After you were able to bathe, uhg, you wish you were able to take a shower but you didn’t want to figure that out either, you found a set of clothing on the bed. A small note, written in perfect cursive, informed you that you could borrow these articles of clothing for the night. Then it was signed ‘J.E.’, so it was pretty obvious who gave you the clothes.

They were night garbs, consisting of pants and a button up shirt of a soft fabric. Honestly, you were very delighted to not have to sleep in a nightgown, as you dared fear. You thought the idea was ridiculous and would never want yourself to ever be seen in such a thing.

The clothes were tight when you put them on, of course they would be, you’re taller than this version of your boyfriend. After that, you spent two hours in the bedroom, just contemplating your situation and trying to figure out what to do. The only way you think would work to get you back would be magic, but where in the hell would you be able to obtain anything ‘magical’ in this day and age without it being the product of a snake oil salesman or some fake bullshit?

Whatever, you walk over to the bed and turn off the lamp on the bedside table, getting into the bed. You’d worry about such things in the morning, besides; you have bigger things to worry about.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My malware program alerted me to the fact that the slang website I was using could contain some potential viruses so… yes, the slang from there will end now; I’ll just use what I remember. And a long list of slang Jake’s used in canon. I’m not taking any chances. 
> 
> Also, this chapter contains humanized trolls, but they have human first names.

You awoke when the light of the morning sun peeked through the curtains of the guest room you stayed in.

Wait… guest room?

Oh, right, you were currently in the past on a still-existing Earth, staying at the home of a man named Jacob English. With a low groan, you sat up and looked around the guest room. Nothing was different; it still had the basic, polished cherry wood furniture, decorated with a gold and white theme. You find this room to be boring, so very boring and too old fashion for your modern day taste. And by modern, you mean the shit that your brother left for you from his time era even though you’re technically from centuries in the future.  

What the fuck ever, you need to get up and start the day. No more dwelling on how lame this room was, you bothered with those thoughts last night.

You got out of bed, stretching, popping your back with a loud crack. That felt good, you thought as you went to the rest room across the hall. You washed your face off and looked at yourself in the mirror. Hm, no need to shave; you’re sixteen, though your hosts don’t need to know that, they think of you to be older. Thank whoever is up there that you’re tall and mature for your age.

Well… mature to an extent, you can be a real huge pain in the ass when you want to be.

Exiting the room, you smelled something delicious coming from downstairs, meaning that Janie was probably making something. You walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, finding the little miss at the stove, humming to herself. “Good morning.” You greeted her, watching her jump and almost send the frying pan in her hand flying.

“Are you alright, miss?”

“Good gracious, you gave me quite the scare!” Janie turned, letting out a small laugh at you, smiling. “You’re up early.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s about seven, I believe.”

Glancing out into the hall, you see that it is almost seven, according to the grandfather clock. “Where’s Jacob?” You asked aloud and heard a small huff from the young lady.

“He’s sleeping still, it’s Saturday, his personal day off. He doesn’t usually get up until around eight.”

You gave a nod before walking over to her. “Would you like some help, miss?” You ask, it would be rude not to help, since she’s so nice.

Janie blinked, blushing lightly. “You wish to help me? Oh no, you’re our guest!”

“It’s the least I can do, Ms. Crocker. What would you like me to do?”

“Would you like to help me fry this bacon? I do need to attend to the bread in the oven.” Janie smiled a bit, moving out of the way to allow you access to the stove.

You gave her your own little smile before taking over. Janie opened the old stone oven in the wall, opening the black iron door and carefully pulled out something with a paddle. This was actually really interesting; you’ve never seen people cook like this.

Then again, you barely knew jack shit about cooking yourself, your brother had provided you with cheap, easy-to-cook food for you, along with orange soda. You’ve spent sixteen years living off of a college student’s diet, minus the coffee and tears of suffering that they also find sustenance in.

 Damn, you could go for some sweet, delicious orange soda right about now, maybe they have orange juice here, yes? Were oranges known at this time? Fuck if you know. You went back to flipping the bacon, careful not to burn yourself as you heard Janie walk up to you. “So Mr. Strider, did you have a good night’s sleep?”

“I did have a good night’s sleep.” You replied as you moved a slice of frying pork. “Thank you for allowing me to stay the night, I really appreciate it and I wish I could pay you back, but I’m flat broke.” Which you actually were, minus your boonbucks but those were pointless in most situations. Plus, you never had money to begin with, what the fuck was the last human male on Earth going to do with money?

“You don’t have to feel obligated to pay us back, at least in my opinion. You can speak with Jacob on the subject when he wakes up. Hm, I should probably get him out of bed before he decides to sleep the day away. Just finish with that bacon and place it with the other pieces on that plate, I’ll be back.”

Turning, you watched the young lady in the tan skirt and white button down walk out of the kitchen. You wondered how long she had been up and cooking, but if she’s anything like your Crocker, then you know she could be up at three in the morning, totally awake, and baking all sorts of treats.

You finished cooking up the last of the bacon and set it on the plate Janie had pointed out to you. Curiosity got the better of you and you decided to look around the kitchen. It was a really… well… quaint? Maybe, was that the right word to use for it? You were use to a small kitchen with shitty swords hidden about. This kitchen looked awesome, like something you’d find in a Victorian-style home.

Well no shit, this was a Victorian-style home, so it makes sense for it to be like this. It was pretty big; the stove was probably gas, though you’re not sure, you left it on since you didn’t want to mess with it. There was the stone oven set in the wall, though there were two, guess Janie made the most of them because there were several baked items set about the long counters, covered in beautiful glass covers.

There were bronze-colored pans and utensils set on the walls, either for cooking or for decoration, you weren’t sure. Cupboards lined the walls, along with a shelf where several china plates and cups were set on display. You noticed a large contraption that could very well be an ice box, though you weren’t sure. Dried meat hung near the stove, along with cloves of garlic and whatnot.

It looked so old-fashion, just like the few rooms you got to see last night. You’ll have to ask Jacob or Janie to give you a tour, there looked to be more to explore of this house, since it was a pretty good size place. Your curiosity for what was out of the norm for you was getting the best of you since you arrived, not that you could blame it. This was all really freaking strange and you might as well take advantage of your situation at hand.

“I smell something delicious!”

You turned towards the entrance to the kitchen, seeing Jacob stroll in. He was dressed in simple dress pants, a white button down, and suspenders. This must be casual wear for this era of time. Well no shit, they don’t walk around in t-shirts and jeans like you do.

Your lips quirk a little into a smile for a moment, but in a second you return to a poker face expression. “Morning Jacob, sleep well?” You greet the older man as he happily walks up to you. He reaches over, snatching a piece of bacon from the plate on the counter.

“I slept like the dead, haha! Did you rest well yourself, old sport?”

“Yeah, I passed out pretty quickly. I must have been more exhausted then I thought.”

“Righty-o. You look a bit well rested.”

You simply nod, leaning against the counter. “Hey, thanks for letting me stay the night, after breakfast I’ll get out of your hair and head out, gotta figure out how… to make a living, ya know?” You would stay but you really don’t want to be a burden on this Jake either, plus, you really need to find a way home.

Jacob frowned a bit. “Oh, well, you’re welcome. But you’re going to leave? I don’t want you to get into a worse situation then dealing with a thief.”

“I don’t wish to be a burden on you and your fiancée.”

“But you have nowhere to go.”

“I am fully aware of that.”

The brunet looked lost in thought for a moment. “What if… I offer you a job? You can help Janie around the house and be my assistant! I mean, normally we do things on our own, but it’s always nice to have some help around the ol’ place! You can work for room and board! And as sure as god made little green apples I will not be letting you live on the streets!”

Okay, wow, what the hell? Did he actually just ask you to stay so quickly? You’re a suspicious character and he just offered you a job and a home. You are beginning to wonder if this English has suffered a number of head injuries like your English has over the years.

Honestly, you wouldn’t be surprised.

“I don’t want to be a burden.” You reply, staring at him.

“Oh pish-posh!” He waved his hand at you; apparently he was having none of your excuses on the matter. “I am having none of your excuses on the matter!”

See?

Jacob crossed his arms and stared hard at you from behind those circular glasses he wore. They looked right on Jacob, but you’d think they would look weird on Jake. You probably shouldn’t fight with him if this guy is giving you an offer you really can’t refuse. Especially considering you have nothing to your name in this time period except for the clothes on your back and the shades on your face.

“I will accept the offer, but you don’t have to pay me. Just having a warm bed is good enough for me.” You say as politely as you can, you really don’t even know what to do with money; again, you’ve never had a need for it in your life.

“A-ha! Spanking! Well, we shall have a discussion about this over breakfast then!”

“Jacob, really now, don’t you think you’re being a little irrational about this? Offering our home to a man you only just met last night?” Janie frowned as she made her way into the kitchen, giving her fiancée a hard stare from behind her glasses.

Jacob pouted slightly as he turned to face her. “Janie, my sweet, does this fellow here look untrustworthy? Like a silver tongue cur who could very well murder us in our sleep?” You made a face, wow, rude. “I don’t think so, I think we should trust him, allow him to work here! You told me that he was helping you in the kitchen when you came to wake me up, I think you can trust him.”

Janie glanced at you before looking at the brunet man and sighed. “I don’t think I have much of a say on the matter, fine, let him stay and work for us. But if he does something I do not approve of, he is out the door in a heartbeat.”

“Miss Janie,” You spoke up, “I will not do anything to bring harm to you and yours, same with Jacob. I will not steal from you as well, I am just a man who needs a place to stay until I find my own, I won’t stay long to make myself a horrible house guest.”

“Are you sure?” She asked. “Can I really put this much trust into you?”

“You have my word as a southern gentleman.” You said, raising a hand and placing the other over your heart, giving her a very serious look.

Cyan eyes stared at you before she sighed. “Not only do you look like him, but you sure do act and talk like him. Fine, but one mistake and you’re gone. I do not need trouble in my home.”

“Gotcha.” You nodded, though you were curious as to what she had said about you looking like someone. Hm, Jake did mention he knew a Strider himself, so does this mean… there’s a Victorian you running around?

That sounds kinda cool but it’s also bothersome, you’ve had enough of you for one lifetime, you don’t need a past you as well. You wondered if maybe his life is decent, where he didn’t have splinters of himself to torment him and his thoughts.

You’d rather not think about this, you really don’t need a headache.

-

During breakfast, Jacob had discussed with you about what duties you would have to do around the house. You were to repair damaged items and parts of the house, help Janie with the daily chores, and, if Jacob needed it, you would be helping him out as well with whatever tasks he needed you for.

Near the end of breakfast, when you were just about finished, Jacob announced that he was taking you to the city; he was going to buy you clothes. You informed him that you didn’t need him to buy you clothing but he reminded you that you were penniless, you were too tall and lanky for his clothing, and the ones you had on your person were strange and would draw attention that you would not want.

With a heavy sigh, you gave in. You keep giving in to this man because you have no other options. You really want to go home. Okay, wait, you want to get back to LOTAK, cause that’s where your apartment is, that’s home.

You found in your room your clothing from yesterday, dry as a bone. You remember leaving them in a bathroom last night, one of them must have brought them in for you. You removed the pajamas you wore, slipping on your shirt and pants. These are much more comfortable then Jacob’s clothing, and people probably won’t pay too much attention, since you’re gonna cover yourself up with a coat that Jacob will be providing for you when you leave.

You slip on your shoes, tying them up, before heading downstairs to the door where the green-eyed gent is smiling at you. “Ready to go? I hope you don’t mind strolling, couldn’t get a carriage at the moment and the snow isn’t too bad out there.”

“Nah, I’m cool with walking.”

He blinked, repeating the word ‘cool’ in curiosity. He doesn’t know your slang, just as you don’t know his.

“It means okay or great, depending on the context.” You inform him and he laughs.

“Ah! Gotcha then! Well, let’s shove off then, get you some fancy wears to match us folk here in London! We’ll find you some clothing that will make you looking dashing, or ‘cool’ as you say.” He chuckled, amused with this word.

“Hm.” You gave a nod, taking the coat he handed to you. It was thick and heavy, but you knew it would keep you warm for the most part. Jacob was ready to go, though he grabbed a walking cane to use.

After saying good bye to Janie, you step outside and look around. Well, it snowed a lot last night; the ground is covered in it. To be honest, you were fascinated by snow. You didn’t have any of it at your apartment due to how fucked up the weather and land conditions were at your home. Roxy and Jane told you it’s pretty but cold and annoying. Jake’s never seen it either, wish you could captchalog some for him to show him, but you can’t.

“Ooh, it’s a cold one today. You sure you’re fit as a fiddle to be out here?” Jacob asked and you shrugged.

“I’ll live. It’s nicer then the Texas sun. That’ll burn you up something bad.”

“Oh my, haha.” Jacob grinned at you. “I once took a trip down to Egypt when I was younger with my grandmother; I got a dilly of a bad skin burn from that trip. Grandmother said to cover up, but no! I decided a real man can face the mighty sun!”

“And you ended up toasted for being a man.” You said, amused by this little story and how animated he was.

Jacob blushed lightly, and you knew it wasn’t from how cold it was outside. “Yes, but I still kept my dignity.”

“Sure you did.” You replied, smirking a little as you walked with him. You had to admit, though it was fucking cold, this was nice. You don’t know why Jane complained when it snowed; it’s nice to see something other than the ocean or the tall towers of LOTAK. You looked around as the two of you walked along, passing by other people in dark, warm clothing.

A few of them greeted Jacob and he replied in a chipper fashion. No one addressed you, unless if Jacob brought you into any brief conversations he had with acquaintances. You simply greeted these strangers as best as your could. You were not a social butterfly like Jacob, you have only interacted with three people in your life (not including Calliope or her brother since you’ve never met them in real life), so your social skills sucked balls.

Soon, you arrived in town with Jacob and he chatted with you, going on and on about whatever came to his head. From what you didn’t tune out, you realized that he had a passion of plays, wishing dearly that he could have plays performed at his home every day. He’s also never seen a bad play in his life; they’re all great in their own way. This must be Jacob’s equivalent to Jake’s love of movies.  

“Oh!” He paused in his conversation about something and pulled you towards a shop. “Here we are! We’ll get you some nice clothing from these lovely ladies! They’re the best seamstresses in all of London!”

Jacob opened the door and brought you inside. It was warm inside, a comfortable warm, and you felt a little at ease with that. There was clothing for sale in here, obviously. Premade outfits, all set up for purchase. Dresses, skirts, blouses, shirts, pants, jackets, full suits, accessories, all for sale it seems. And of top quality from what you could tell.

“Ladies Maryam!” Jacob called. “Are you in?”

From a door behind the counter, a young woman stepped out. She had short, cropped hair that was styled just right and lovely skin that was a light shade of tan. You were guessing she had decedents from India, which could be true since it was common for Indians to live in England at this time. She was beautiful and had amazing jade eyes that stood out with the dark eyeliner she wore.

“Ah, miss Katherine!” Jacob smiled, going up to her and kissing her hand.

This Katherine woman smiled daintily and gave Jacob a small curtsy. “Hello, Mister English. Did you need something repaired again?”

“Oh no, not today, I am simply here to buy my new friend some dapper looking outfits.” He gestured over to you, catching Katherine’s attention. She gracefully walked up to you, holy shit she was tall, looking you over with a calculating stare.

“Pamela!” She called out; another woman came into the room. She was just as lovely as Katherine, though her chest was more endowed and she wore gold piercings on her face, which, holy shit, that’s probably a huge taboo here. But what do you know; you’re from the twenty fifth century. She looked just like Katherine, same eye color and everything, though her hair went down her back.  

“What is it?” Pamela asked, her own jade eyes on you. “Oh, looks like we’ve got work to do, sister.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” You frowned as she removed your jacket; both ladies stared at your shirt and pants in distaste.

“We need to dress you up in the right clothing.” Pamela replied, pulling measuring tape out.

You spent the next twenty minutes being measured with precise perfection; these Maryam girls were not cutting corners on making sure your numbers were exact. You found out that they were going to make you fitted clothing, Jacob asked them to make you a fine suit, he was going to let you pick out your clothing from the store but he was commissioning the suit.

They weren’t pleased with only making one outfit after spending all that time measuring you, but he offered to pay up front and the gladly agreed to make it.

Pamela left to start work, leaving Katherine to speak with Jacob as you were allowed to browse. You quietly listened to them speak softly to one another; you think you hear them mention the names Jonathan and Rosaline a few times. You don’t know why, but those names peeked your interest in their conversation, but you weren’t gonna be a dick and interrupt it with questions.

“Ah Dirk,” Jacob smiled as he walked up to you, “have you found anything that would look just smashing on you?”

“A few things, I don’t know. I’m good wearing work clothing since I’m gonna help you with house work and shit.”

He nodded, helping you take the clothing you had grabbed. They were purchased and you walked out with new clothing, bound in brown paper and twine. “Are you good on shoes?” Jacob asked as he looked at your sneakers.

“I don’t need you buying me shoes, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very.” Besides, you had a feeling that if you needed shoes, you could borrow from Jacob, you knew you were able to fit Jake’s shoes and this version of him wasn’t that much different in build from your boyfriend.

Jacob just nodded, walking with you around town. You mostly just busied yourselves with window shopping, it was actually really nice to do something like that. You were fascinated by the some of the shops that sold mechanical devices like type writers, sewing machines, and even old telephones.

“Say Dirk, would you like to go see where I work?”

You looked away from one of the windows displays, looking at the smaller man. “Huh? Right now?”

“Yes! We’re not far from it, so why not?”

You gave a nod. “Sure, I’d like to see where you work.”

Jacob looked excited, grabbing your hand and dragging you along for three more blocks before he came to a large building. It was a factory it seems, though you weren’t really sure what it produced. Just as Jacob was about to put his key into the front doors’ lock, the door opened and you stared in shock at the person behind the doors.


	3. Chapter 3

The man who stood in the doorway was you.

He had the same skin tone, the same freckles, the same hair color (though his hair was a little more tamed in style), and you knew that behind those round, dark-tinted spectacles on his face were amber eyes. You had a feeling that they were just as wide as your own as you stared at one another.

“Haha, Strider!” Both you and this look-alike turned your heads towards Jacob. “What are you doing here, it’s our day off.”

“I came to get some work done that I didn’t finish yesterday.” Damnit, even his voice is the same! He even has the same accent as you, if not a bit stronger, so it’s obvious that he’s not from England like Jacob and Janie are. The other you turned his attention back to you, giving you one hell of a stare. “Who are you?”

Before you could even open your mouth, Jacob spoke up. “Strider, this is my new friend and personal assistant at home, Dirk Strider! See Dirk, I told you that you look like my friend!”

The other you just continued to stare before holding out his hand. “I’m Dean Strider, pleasure to make your acquaintance… Dirk.” There was tension in his voice when he said your name, he doesn't trust you, and you don’t blame him.

You take his hand, giving it a firm shake; it’s rough and scarred up like your own. “The pleasure's all mine, Dean.”

The small brunet next to you was grinning. “I was just about to show Dirk the building, want to join the tour?” He chuckled as he looked up at Dean.

Dean removed his hand from yours, looking down at Jacob. “Sure, I’ll tag along.”

He’s just like you, meaning that you know damn well he’s only coming to so he can keep an eye on you.

This is freaking you out, is your whole group here? Is there a Roxy? A little part of you hopes there is, and that this Victorian-Roxy is happy with her life, totally sober, living with an army of cats and spending time with her mother.

Your chest hurts a little; you really want this timeline’s Roxy to be happy, even though your Roxy isn't as happy as she should be.

Jacob steps past Dean and enters the building; you follow after the other two. “My factory produces all sorts of mechanical equipment for customers here in Europe and in North America!” Jacob proudly said. “The English family has been running Skaia Metal Works since it opened with my great uncle and grandmother’s plans to own a company that made the best guns in the world.”

You listened to him talk about how guns were the major product, but they also produced parts for farming equipment and everyday objects that people used. He showed you where people worked and the tools and machinery they used. You were fascinated and you really wanted to tear some machines apart to see how they worked.

You also wondered if you could make a robot out of some of that stuff.

The whole time Jacob blabbed away and you looked around, Dean was keeping his eyes on you, trying to keep his line of sight behind his tinted glasses on your backside. The glasses were round like Jacob’s but with bigger lenses, letting him hide his eyes completely behind the dark glass. You had to admit, they looked good, you might have to make a pair and put your auto responder in them.

“English,” Dean spoke up, causing Jacob to stop speaking, “when I was in your office, I took notice of a few papers you didn’t look over, about that trade you’re suppose to make with that company in Munich. Those were supposed to be signed already. Don’t want to get another angry telegram from Beilshimidt again; he’s growing impatient about you forgetting to sign.”

“Hogswallop! He can wait a damn minute!”

Dean sighed loudly, lowering his glasses to give Jacob a hard look. “Just go and sign them. And make sure you read over everything, no cutting corners.”

The smaller man huffed. “Fine! I’ll go look over the papers and sign them now! Continue the tour for me, alright?”

The other you nodded as you both watched Jacob leave, meaning you were left alone with Dean. When Jacob was out of ear shot, Dean turned to face you. “Who the hell are you?” He asked, placing his glasses in the front pocket of his vest.

“Dirk Strider, I told you my name already.”

“Is that really your name? Why is it that you look like me? Are you a con man? Were you trying to trick Jacob?” He grabbed you by the collar of your jacket, suddenly you were looking yourself in the eye and it was terrifying.

“I would never trick Jacob, ever. And I am not a con man, nor have I ever been one.” You growled, glaring at him. “And to answer your other questions, yes, Dirk Strider is my real name, and you would never believe me if I told you why I look like you.”

“Tell me and we’ll see.”

Well… it’s worth a shot, but here goes nothing: “I’m you, from another time, I’m from the future.”

Dean didn’t believe you; it was clear in those orange eyes of his. “Bull fucking shit.”

“It’s the truth. I am a man from the twenty fifth century who somehow traveled back in time to this time period. Technically, I’m a reincarnation of you, if this is really the past. If not, then I am a version of you from another timeline or universe, take your pick.”

“That doesn’t make a lick of sense.” You shove him away, making him let go of the jacket. You open it, showing him your clothing.

“Do these look like the clothes of a man from this time? I told Jacob they were the clothes of a working man from Texas, though I’m sure you don’t believe that lie like Jacob does.”

Dean looked at your shirt and jeans, along with your shoes. “No, these are not the common clothes of a man from Texas. And I should know, for I was born there.”

“I to am from Texas, though from a Texas that is several stories below the combined waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the Gulf of Mexico. My apartment building stands above the water.”

“You speak of lies.”

You pull out your phone; strangely, it seems to have been able to come back in time with you, like your clothes and your shades. You were guessing certain things were able to travel with you when you jumped forwards and backwards in time without the help of Time Powers. You honestly didn’t understand the rules of time travel and you didn’t plan to, it wasn’t your jurisdiction.

The other you looked at the device, taking it from you. “What the hell is this?” He asked, looking at it in curiosity and wonder, you were sure he was thinking about tearing it apart to see how it ticks. You yourself did that when you first made it when you entered the game.

“It’s a portable cellular telephone handheld device, also known as a cell phone. It’s basically what the telephone will become by the twentieth century.” You snatched it back and pushed the power button. Last night you discovered your phone in your pocket when you were jumping rooftops and found out that it still turned on and off, but there was no signal at all. It was the only piece of technology you had that worked.

Dean watched the screen come on, eyes wide as he stared. Appearing on the screen was a picture of yourself and Jake, standing by a stone structure on LOMAX, one of the skeleton monsters in the background. He just looked at your phone, unable to speak.

“That’s me,” You pointed at yourself, “and that’s Jake English, my bo- best friend.” You pointed at Jake, correcting yourself. You couldn’t call Jake your boyfriend, this was a different time period, homosexual relationships were considered taboo and those who engaged in such a relationship were deemed mentally insane.

“Is this a photograph? It’s in color, where are you? What is that thing? Why does this Jake English look like Jacob?”

You had to admit, he was taking this better then you thought. “In the future, photos will be in color, and it will be great. We’re on a strange planet inside of another universe-like place, do not ask, it’s hard to explain. That thing in the background is a skeleton monster we fought after the photo was taken. They live on the planet. And Jake is like me, either Jacob in the future or Jacob from another timeline.”

He continued to look at the picture until the screen went black. “Where did it go?”

“Oh, it does that.” You took the phone back, turning it off. “Do you believe me?”

“Not really, you could still be a con man, messing with my head with strange technology you made.”

You sighed loudly, face palming. “But then again,” You blink, glancing at him as he continued to speak, “I don’t know what to make of what you showed me. You could be telling the truth, but it’s confusing to be honest.”

“I’d actually have to sit down and talk to you about everything in detail. I feel like you’d probably be the only person in this world that would believe me.” You paused, frowning. “Or you could think I’m fucking bat shit bonkers and have me shipped off to an asylum the moment you get the chance.”

“That depends though,” Dean crossed his arms, having the same frown on his own face, “your story sounds like something from a science fiction penny story, but your face speaks only the truth. I can’t tell with you, are you a liar or a truth teller?”

“I don’t like to tell lies, the only lies I’ve told are why I’m here and what happened to me so that it seems like I’m not making up a story about me being from the future. I told Jacob and Janie that I am from Huston, Texas and that I moved her for work, only to get robbed when I arrived. They believed me, for the most part. Janie’s skeptical of me.”

“She’s that way with everyone, including me. She thought I was a shady man when I became Jacob’s partner.” Dean shrugged, clucking his tongue.

You glanced at him. “I want to tell you everything. And even though I honestly despise myself more than I should, I always feel comfortable talking with myself. And in a way, you are me.”

“I am not.”

“It’s pretty damn obvious that you are. You look like me, talk like me, and I’m pretty damn sure that your mind works in a similar fashion as mine, always calculating, always being rational. And I’m sure you know your way around a sword or two.”

You watch him twitch; you’ve hit the nail on the head. “I… do know a few sword fighting techniques. I did take fencing when I was younger.”

“And have you ever held a katana in your hand?”

“...” He adjusted the bolo tie around his neck. “I may have held one, once or twice.”

“I’d mention something else but I dare not say it because I can hear Jacob’s footsteps.” As if on cue, Jacob rounded a corner, looking at the two of you with a slight pout.

“Strider! You didn’t finish the tour!” He said, striding towards you and past/ alternate universe you.

Dean put his glasses back on before addressing him. “My sincere apologies, English, I was just having a very… interesting chat with your new assistant here.” You felt his eyes on you, staring like a damn hawk. Do you really look at people like this? Creepy, you gotta work on that.

“Oh?” Jacob cocked an eyebrow. “What were you talking about?”

“Strider-based information, no English allowed.” Dean smirked at Jake, reaching out to ruffle up his hair.

The smaller man sputtered and flailed. “D-damn it all, Strider! Don’t do that!” He slapped his hand away. “You know I hate it when you say that Strider-based nonsense.”

“I know, and I think it’s funny.”

“Bah! You had better not teach Dirk your Strider ways!”

You smirked a bit. “Too late, I already have my own.”

“Oh bloody- shuck’s buster…!”

-

“Jacob, can I have a word with Dean, I promise I’ll be right out when I’m done.” You asked as you stepped outside of the building with the brunet.

Jacob blinked and shrugged. “Sure, mate, I’ll be right here. Would you like for me to hold onto your clothing for you?” He asked, gesturing to your packaged new clothing. You hand it over and step inside the building once more, closing the door. Dean’s standing about ten feet away, looking at you as he crossed his arms.

“What did you want to speak with me about?”

“Well,” You start, walking up to him, “do you think you could do me a favor?”

He seemed hesitant. “What kind of favor?”

“I need to get back to my timeline or universe or whatever it is that I’m suppose to be present in.”

“And you think I could be of help? I know nothing of magic or whatever it is that got you here. I mean, I have indulged an interest in science fiction from time to time, along with practicing science in all its different forms, but that’s different from magic.”

“I know, I know, but you’re the only person here I can trust with my secrets. I can’t tell Janie, she’s already skeptical of me as is, and Jacob… he’s not the brightest bulb in the shed, so to speak, so I don’t know if he’d believe me or not. He probably could, Jake believed me about being from the future.”

Dean looked at you with a quizzical expression and you sighed. “I really need more time to speak with you about everything I know and can tell you.” You said, looking at him.

He had a poker face but nodded. “That’s true. We can talk Friday of next week, I’m hosting my brother’s wedding then, you are most likely attending, seeing as Jacob will invite you since I would not put it past him to do so.”

The word ‘brother’ bothers the fuck out of you, which means there’s a chance that… well… you could end up meeting a different version of your brother.

Well, you have met a different version of Dave before, but you didn’t actually _meet_ him, you just saw him and was too nervous to say anything when all that weird ghost business happened.

“I shall discuss things with you then, Dean.”

Dean gave you a nod. “Better go back out there, Jacob can be rather impatient and will gripe about it for a bit.”

You nodded, saying good bye before walking back out. “Hey, I’m done talking to him.”

“Oh!” Jacob turned to face you. “Great! Ready to return to my home or would you like to look around the city a little more.”

“We can head back, I’m cold.”

“Aces! Let us venture on home then! I am sure Janie had baked a delicious treat for us while we were out!” Jacob chuckled as he turned around, heading back towards his home with you in tow.

-

Jacob had been right; Janie had prepared a rather delicious pound cake with a thick glaze, just a little something she was apparently experimenting with. After you had a slice of the cake, Jacob had three, this man’s got a hell of a sweet tooth apparently, you asked for a tour of the house.

The brunet was more than happy to show you around, give you the grand tour of the English home.

He showed you into the drawing room, it was basically where they held little private parties and tended to guest. It was lavishly decorated, with dark wood furniture and globes. There were at least seven globes in this room, Jacob said he had a love for globes and the world, it was always fun to spin them and see where you finger lands when you stop it.

He showed you where the downstairs water closet was, along with the small laundry room was. It was inside of a closet under the stairs apparently. He showed you another room downstairs, next to the kitchen. It was the sun room, along with being their small, private library. You found this room fascinating; due to all the books they had in their collection. You had never seen so many, due to your inability to actually have your own collection; you only had what your brother left you and what you read online.

They had first editions to titles that would only become classics in time, books on the world, on real life, on fiction, and even a collection of philosophical-themed books. You were in heaven, if only there was a work shop in this room to do metal work, you’d never leave. But sadly, the only desk in the room was for writing or reading at, and the only interesting hunk of metal was the polished suit of armor.

You went upstairs, already knew where the bedrooms were, but Jacob showed you his favorite room.

It was his trophy room. And boy did it live up to that title.

All over the walls were stuffed and mounted animals or animal heads. You saw all sorts of animals you’ve never seen before in your life, and a lot of them you knew were getting close to extinction at this time period. Jesus Christ, he even had a fucking tiger pelt on the wall.

And gun, holy shit, there were all sorts of guns and firearms on display, out in the open or in cases.

“Jacob… dude, what the fuck man?” You said, staring at the room in shock.

“Heh, you like? This is mine and my grandmother’s work! Even some of my great-great-grandfather’s trophies are in here. Like that dodo!” He pointed at a fucking stuffed dodo. You were looking at a bird that was literally killed off the face of this planet because of how dimwitted and easy to kill it was.

You are actually surprised by how you’re not frightened of this man. But then again, he’s the Victorian-era version of Jake and you’ve seen Jake shoot a butterfly for no reason other than it was there and he had a big ass gun.

“You are a strange man, Jacob English. I have no idea what to make of you.”

He just laughed at this and slapped your back. “Hahaha, oh, Dean said the same thing when I showed him this room the first time. He was rather shocked by my collection of dead animals and guns. I don’t see what the problem is; he collects swords and puppets anyway.”

The similarity between your universes was fucking creepy sometimes.

“Right. Okay, so do you want me to stay out of this room when I doing work for you or am I free range on your property?”

“Free range?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Basically I’m allowed to work all over the house without restrictions.”

He nodded. “Yes, if something needs repaired or worked on anywhere on my property, you are allowed to deal with it, unless if Janie or I saw differently. Does that answer your question, ol’ sport?”

“Yeah, it does. Thanks Jacob.”

The smaller man smiled. “Righty-o! Now, let’s get you into one of your new outfits, I want to see how they look!” He placed his hand on your back, walking you out of the room. With a small sigh, you wondered what was in store for you during your time here, and if you can see if Dean can help you get back home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention this last chapter, but the name Dean comes from what my moirail and I call Bro in our rps if Dirk and Bro are both involved. His name is the only one that isn’t a longer version of a character’s name, seeing as it is still four letters long. I wasn’t really being creative with names in this story, I really just picked what sounded close to the character’s name. 
> 
> Oh, and the reason that Dirk even mentions going to church is because one, I want to introduce another troll into this (it’s Kankri, haha), and two, because I was thinking of this chapter when I went to Easter mass at the church here in town. I’m not really religious (I’m Deist actually), but hey, I go on Christmas and Easter for my grandparents’ sake, and I thought that Dirk might enjoy doing something he’s never done before.

You have been here for about five days.

You had arrived on Friday, and it is now Wednesday. You have yet to find a way home; you don’t even know where to start. All you’ve done since Sunday, when you started to do your ‘job’, was work and trying your best to not slip up. It hasn’t really been easy, you don’t know this time period like your new friends do, but you try really hard not to make that obvious.

Janie is still very suspicious of you, she has caught you being curious of things and not having a basic understanding of certain items and contraptions. Hell, you were actually confused by a light switch from this time period, how lame is that? You have to fib your way through her questions, saying that things are different in Texas and that you grew up dirt poor, not having any of these things at all.

Which… well… it is true, but still, it’s a lie. Anyway, Jacob has had you working from the moment breakfast is done until the time he gets home around six everyday.

Except on Sunday though, because instead of getting to work after breakfast, you went to church for the first time in your life. 

It had been very strange, to say the least. You’re not religious; you’ve never had a real reason to be. Yes, there is something out there, in the grand scheme of things, but you can’t really say that it is the Big Man Upstairs or not. But you were polite and attended church with Janie and Jacob, and it wasn’t all that bad, you just didn’t know what to do.

You sat with them in the pews, sitting near the front, apparently. You weren’t allowed to look around, Janie wouldn’t let you, so you were forced to keep your eyes forward on the preacher. (Was he a preacher? You aren’t even sure what religion Jacob and Janie were, probably Protestant. You’ll just call the man a preacher though.)

He was a short man, with soft curly locks of red hair, from what you remember, and lots of freckles. You think his name was Vantas, but you can’t remember exactly, it might have been that. He talked, a lot, about God and his people and the words of the ancient scriptures of the holy men and women.

There were times were Vantas slipped away from the Bible and talked about equality and the like, which he was very passionate and soulful about, good for him. Hey, you’re not gonna shit on what a guy wanted the world to know, he can do whatever he wants. You remember seeing a woman with a shit ton of hair standing by him, hanging on to every word that slipped out of his motor mouth.

Vantas went on and on for three hours, you actually fell asleep for about ten minutes. You got scolded by Janie, but she got even angrier when Jacob passed out and knocked his head on the pew in front of him. It was pretty funny, best part of the whole service.

All and all, it was okay and you can say that you gave it a shot, but… well… considering all the whatnot you’ve gone through in your life, will go through, and your interest in the same sex… hm, you’re sure that you don’t really need to keep going to church every Sunday. It’s just not your thing.

You had to admit though, being in this weird timeline/ alternate universe was allowing you to experience things you never had the chance of doing in your life or ever even witness. You’ve never seen a crowd of people going about their day, just a crowd of Dersits, but they don’t count. You now know what snow is like, same with cold weather. You are in a historical city and it is not under hundreds of feet of water. And you actually attended church.

This is all actually pretty amazing, even though you are desperate to return home.

After you returned to Jacob’s home after the service, you changed out of the nice clothes you wore and put on something you knew you could get dirty. You were going to help Jacob wallpaper a wall in his study.

After seven hours of that shit, you promised yourself that you never want to deal with wallpaper again, even though currently you are cleaning the wallpaper in the rooms with fireplaces or coal-burning heaters, which is pretty much every room in this fucking house!

You hate it with a fucking passion, never again do you want to see wallpaper! Just painted walls will do for you, Dirk Strider!

Janie asked you politely during breakfast to change a few light bulbs in some of the wall lamps (you did and you kept thinking about tearing the walls apart to study primitive wiring for lights), to help her clean the ashes out of the ovens (you both ended up covered in that shit after she sneezed), and to clean all the soot off the walls around the fireplaces and heaters and then to clean them out like you did the ovens.

Sometimes you wonder if this is your own personal Victorian-themed Hell for being a dick in the other timeline or universe or whatever the fuck it is that has your friends living in it.

It probably is, but it would only truly be Hell if there was a human Hal equivalent walking around, bothering you for all eternity. Speaking of one of your equivalents, Dean said that there was a wedding on Friday, you were actually a little nervous about that, seeing as you’ve never been to a wedding and that it was for his brother.

You had no idea if his brother was like your own brother or if he was just a regular guy who isn’t the Victorian carbon copy of your long-dead older brother. That actually scared you and has been on your mind for quite some time now. You sigh, pausing in your rolling of this weird clay shit you had to use to clean the walls with, and ponder on these thoughts more.

Should you be happy that there is a chance you might be able to see your brother alive, even if he’s not really your brother? Or should you be nervous and uncomfortable like you were when you saw that younger version of him in the dream bubbles?

Fuck, you don’t want that! God, you remember turning your head to look back when you were leaving with Roxy and seeing your alternate-universe-brother standing there, mouth agape and looking horribly devastated. You don’t know why he looked that way, but it bothered the fuck out of you, you never want to see your brother make that face again.

You swear that you heard him yell ‘Wait, don’t go!’ at you as you tried to leave the dream bubble, you’re still not sure if he really did or if that was your imagination.

You let out a deep sigh and get back to getting rid of this annoying ass soot off the walls, fuck this shit, fuck it to the coldest, deepest, darkest chunk of the Void.

“Dirk?”

Turning, you look towards the door to see Janie poking her head in. “Yes, Ms. Janie?” You stand up straight, hearing your back pop, crap, how long have you been bent over?

“Do you need to take a break? You’ve been working for several hours now without rest. I’ve prepared some tea, do you want to join me?”

Nodding, you set aside the clump of wallpaper cleaner. “Yes madam, just let me wash my hands first.” Janie nodded and walks down the hall, telling you that she would be waiting in the drawing room. After cleaning up your hands and face, you head down the stairs and into the room where Janie sat on the loveseat.

You sit down in the seat across the table from her, seeing that she had set up a lovely looking display of tea cakes and cookies. Her tea set was rather interesting, the tea pot was red in color and she had four different cups and saucers set out, they were really odd and specific colors. The cup before you was orange, she had a blue one that matched the color of her eyes. There was also an emerald green one and a pink one, you don’t comment as you sit down.

“I have an orange spice tea prepared, is that alright with you?” She asked, picking up the tea pot.

“That’s fine Ms. Janie.” You reply, letting her pour you a cup. You can’t say you’re fond of tea, it taste like bitter hot water to you, but you drink it anyway. God, you’d kill the Condesce yourself for just one drink of one of your damn orange sodas right now…

“So Dirk, I was speaking with Jacob last night.” The young lady started as she set the pot down, having just poured herself a cup. You nod, wanting her to continue. “And he suggested that you attend a wedding with us on Friday.”

“Dean told me that there would be a wedding.”

Janie paused in her movements to pour milk into her tea, glancing up at you over her glasses. “He did? When did you… oh, right, you spoke with him last weekend when you were out with Jacob. Shucks, I forgot that you two told me that.”

“It’s alright Ms. Janie.” You take a drink of tea, its okay, just a bit much. You add a sugar cube to it before picking up a shortbread cookie, munching on it. “And I would like to go to the wedding; I’ve never been to one before.”

“You haven’t?” She blinked. “Well, still, you might like it, from what I’ve heard, it will be beautifully decorated. I cannot wait to see David and Jaden’s ceremony, it will be wonderful.” Janie smiled softly to herself.

“David and Jaden?” You questioned, your brother’s name is David in this world? How… unoriginal, then again, Jacob and Janie are just another version of Jake and Jane. You can’t really explain Dean’s name though, maybe it’s just a four letter name that starts with D that isn’t something to make fun of, like Dick. Boy, that ‘misspelling’ of your name thing got real old real fast with Roxy; it wasn’t even funny the first time she did it.

“Oh, David is Dean’s younger brother and Jaden is Jake’s cousin.”

Okay, so David is Dean’s brother (and another version of yours), while Jaden could be Jake’s grandmother but Jacob's cousin in this world. That… sort of makes sense? You guess? You’re not sure and you really don’t want to think about it too much.  

You just nod your head. “Cool. Hey, where is this wedding taking place?” You ask before taking another drink, it tastes a little better with the sugar in it.

“It will be held at the church, the one we went to the other day. Then we will go to the Strider estate for the rest of the wedding, the Striders are planning on hosting a big party for this, it’s not every day a wedding is held, right?” Janie smiled a bit at you.

With a nod of your head, you set your orange tea cup down. “Ms. Janie, are you still suspicious of me?”

She looks at you with those cyan eyes so much like your own Crocker’s. Janie lets out a soft sigh and folds her hands in her lap. “I want to believe everything you say, but I don’t know if I can trust you. I’m not easy to fall for every story I hear like Jacob does, I am not a dull woman, Dirk.”

“I know that, you’re very smart and I believe that. I understand that you don’t trust a strange that just suddenly entered your life, especially a stranger who looks like a friend of yours.”

“Yes, that’s what bothers me the most.” Janie said as she looked you dead in the eye, you really wish you had your shades on right now. “You look exactly like Dean, minus a few things here and there; it’s almost as if you’re a living reflection of him.”

Technically, you were both one and the same, and yet, at the same time, you were different, for obvious reasons. Splinters are always like that, they are the same and yet so very, very different. For example, your pain-in-the-ass auto responder who really needs to talk to you, if your phone can work, he sure as hell should be able to.

But then again, you did get really pissed at him before you went on that little tomb raiding trip that lead you here, getting so mad that you told him to fuck off and just go into sleep mode.

…

Until you manually activated him from your home computer, fuck!

You slap your forehead, catching Janie’s attention. “Dirk, is something wrong?”

“Ah, no, fuck-sorry, I just remembered something and I’m mad at myself about it. Anyway, yeah, it is rather odd that I look like Dean, but hey, I’ve read that there is someone that looks identical to you somewhere in the world at the same time you exist.” Bullshit, that was some stupid thing you read on the internet when you were a kid.

But Janie seemed to believe it because she nodded. “Yes, I suppose you’re right about that, Dirk.”

“I’m right about a lot of things.” You said in a smug tone, getting a bit of a giggle out of the sweet, little lady. “Ms. Janie, I know it might take a long time for you to fully trust me, but I will have you know that I will never hurt you, your husband, or anyone you two care about. I’m not that kind of person, I don’t like making people upset.”

\--

Too late, you are the kind of person who upsets people.

You’ve rejected Roxy due to your sexual orientation (which you understand is aimed towards male-identified individuals) and how you only see her as your oldest, dearest friend.

You hurt Jane and damaged her trust in you due to having gotten to Jake first; ruining her chances of having a happy life with a boy she’s crushed on for probably longer than you. God, you know your friendship with her will forever have this black smudge on it, caused solely by you and your unhealthy interest in your best bro.

And of course… there’s Jake. You feel like you sort of pushed him into the relationship, you know he was willing to give it a shot, Jake’s open-minded about his preferences in whoever he would date, but shit man, you pretty much asked him out right after he finished shoving his tongue down your decapitated head. It was a terrible move and you practically abused his trust in you when you sent him your head, though it was ninety-nine percent of you needing him to bring you to life so you could get everyone else in the game and not have everyone die forever.

But still, he said yes and you were so overjoyed that you ignored how everyone else felt about the matter, like, you completely forgot about Roxy’s feelings for you and Jane’s feeling for Jake. It was just you, you, you! Always you! Never anyone else, Dirk Strider, the whole fucking universe and paradox space revolves around you.

You and your selfish needs and wants, and how much you’re probably smothering Jake with all your attention and clinginess, right in front of Roxy and Jane too. Uhg, you’re terrible, the absolute worse, no wonder you can’t stand your splints, they just show you who you really are.

You’re an asshole, you say aloud as you slam an ax down on a chunk of wood. Janie asked you to get firewood since it was going to be rather cold tonight. It’s already cold, but you guess it’s just going to get colder, seeing as you’re in the middle of January.

Oh, yes, you finally figured out what the year and month was here, thanks to a calendar you found in the kitchen. It’s 1879 and from what you can tell, you’re actually arrived in this era on the same day you left LOCAH. That was rather convenient for you, but that also means that you’ve been missing for five days.

You put another block on the stump and ponder on the thoughts of how your friends feel about this situation, if they are even looking for you or not.

“Probably not.” You sigh, slamming the ax down through the wood. “As if they’d care if I went missing, they’re all annoyed with me anyway. Probably doin’ them some good to get away from me, everyone needs a break from Di-Stri…” You mumbled, trying to pull the ax head out of the stump.

“Dirk?”

You pause and turn towards the house, seeing Jacob, looks like he just got home. “Ah! There you are lad!” He smiled brightly at you in the light of the kitchen and the single outdoor light by the door.

“Do you need something, Jacob?” You asked, tilting your head a bit.

“I was wondering where you were, Janie said that it’s time for supper! Oh, you’re chopping wood, need a hand bringing in those logs?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”

Jacob happily walked out into the snow and helped you pick up the wood you chopped. He flashed you another smile and walked with you inside. He told you where to set them down, by the main fireplace in the drawing room, and told you to clean up for dinner.

You nodded, going to your room and threw off the winter clothes you were still borrowing from Jacob, throwing them onto the bed. The warmth of the inside felt nice compared to the cold outside, and you could smell dinner. If you’re correct, you think it was chicken, you remembered Janie having it delivered to the house, yesterday.

You went back downstairs and went to the dining room, sitting in the spot you have been sitting in. Janie served the food and you all started to eat when she was done. Jacob talked about his day at work, though you weren’t really that interested, it was just about business and the like and some deal with someone named Ampora, but you didn’t care about that.

What caught your attention was when Jacob brought up the wedding for Friday. “Dean is just so flustered about all of this! He’s got the jitters something bad!”

“Well,” Janie spoke as she looked at her fiancé, “it’s not every day that your little brother gets married.”

“I know, but he looks about ready to pass out! Gosh, I haven’t seen him this worked up and all ruffled in the feathers in quite some time.”

“A complete change from his normal stoic appearance, I take it?”

Jacob nodded and sighed a bit. “Yes, and it’s rather… bothersome, I’ll tell you what. Quite bothersome indeed…” You catch it, a look in his eyes, of guilt and remorse, something happened in the past it seems, between Jacob and Dean. Did Dean do something, causing him to have some issues with Jacob? Or vise versa?

You wanted to ask, but you decide to put a bit of potato in your mouth instead, it’s not your business in any way, shape or form.

Though you are very curious still and ponder the possibilities for the rest of the evening.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was brought to you by my love for angst and the fact that I have yet to have Dirk freak out over actually touching a life size horse. 
> 
> Speaking of horses, I don’t really know much on them, mostly because they intimidate me with how big and powerful they are. But damn, they’re really cool animals, just not my favorite.

Today was the day of the wedding, it was being held at the church at two and you were honestly a little nervous about this.

From what you knew, you were going to be seeing Dean again, but you were also going to be meeting his brother and Jacob’s cousin, along with possibly this universe’s Jane’s grandfather and maybe, just maybe, this Roxy and her mother.

You weren’t sure for certain but you just had this feeling.

With a bit of a sigh, you look at yourself in the mirror in your room, wearing the suit that those young ladies had tailored for you. It was a black suit with orange accents on it, and it fit you perfectly. You weren’t one for fancy clothing, that’s more of Jake’s department, but hey, you were working this outfit and you made it look fucking smashing. Oh yeah, total ironic use of one of Jake and Jacob's silly adjectives. 

However, you realize that bowties were not your thing and you were struggling with it like a fool. God, you could not for the life of you remember how Jake did up his for that yummy little vest-tight shorts combo he wore with you a few times when you explored LOMAX. A bit of heat came to your cheeks and you can’t tell if it’s from the embarrassment of not knowing how to tie a bowtie or from thinking of your boyfriend’s plush rump.

Could be both, holy shit, you were a silly, dirty boy.

“Knock-knock!” You heard Jacob say as he opened the door, smiling brightly at you. “Golly gee Dirk, you look smashing!” Heh, you were right, you do, and even he used the word 'smashing', thought not ironically like you did.

You looked at Jake, seeing his suit was similar to your own, only a very dark gray in color with a green bowtie and one of those little napkin things in the front pocket, also in green. “Thanks man, hey, so you think you could help me with this?” You gesture to the tie around your neck and he nods, walking up to you.

As Jacob fiddled with your bow, you glance down at him and realize that, holy shit, he really does look exactly like Jake, right down to the last detail. Minus the lighter skin tone and the fact that he shaves, he looks just like your boyfriend. You want to kiss him, which… is a really bad thing to do, because you’re pretty sure that he’s not gay, and, oh, hey! He’s got a fucking fiancée who is one of the sweetest, feistiest ladies you’ve ever met!

But he looks like Jake and smells like cologne and the lingering scent of metal and you just want to kiss those soft lips because you really miss your English…

“There we are! Perfect!” You didn’t realize you had leaned a little closer to kiss him until he stepped back. Luckily for you, he probably just thought you were leaning to let him fix easier, after all, you are much taller than him.

“Thank you.” You reply, keeping a straight face.

“Come along Dirk, we need to get going so we’re not late! David’s a man who likes things to get done on time!” Jacob laughed as he walked out the door. You watch him go down the hall and you are quick to grab your shades, slipping them on your face. You don’t want to meet anyone else without these on your face.

You follow after him and glance down the stairs, seeing Jacob putting on his coat before helping Janie. She is in a beautiful, long party dress of gold, it makes you think of the same shade of gold as Prospit. She looks so pretty, all dolled up and whatnot. You tell her that she looks lovely, to which Jacob happily agrees, making her blush and giggle.

“Now boys, please, save the compliments for the bride!”

“Oh but my sweet buttercup,” Jacob started, taking her hand, “You will be a bride in just two months.” You watch him kiss her gloved hand and you twitch, feeling your heart ache. You know they aren’t Jake and Jane, but… you feel both the sting of guilt and of jealousy all at once in your heart. Jealousy that these two are so happy together while you know you’re a burden to Jake right now, and guilt because what if this could have happened to Jake and Jane if you hadn’t… confessed your feelings.

“Dirk?”

You blinked and look down at them, Janie tilting her head. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I just blanked out for a moment.”

“Oh, alrighty my good sir!” Jacob grinned before meeting you at the bottom of the stairs. “Guess what you get to do today!”

“Be your guest to the wedding of a couple I’ve never met before?”

“Besides that, you get to drive our carriage today.” You cock an eyebrow over your shades at this. “We got the carriage and horses, but sadly our usual driver is out today, however we've got permission to let you drive it. We figured that you would be able to handle it! Sounds good, yes?”

Wait a second…

You were going to drive a carriage.

That is pulled by horses.

You were going to interact with horses.

“Of course, I’ll be able to get you there as your driver.” You say, doing your damn hardest not to freak out.

“Wonderful!” Jacob grins, patting your arm and heading out the door after you quickly put on your coat. You look out at the end of the sidewalk and see the carriage and the two, beautiful horses. This was going to be a great moment in your life.

After you help Janie and Jacob into the carriage, you go up to the horses and just stare at them for a moment. There is a solid black stallion and he is just fantastic, while next to him is a chestnut colored mare and you gently pet her snout. You giggle, you fucking giggle. You saw horses when you left the house and went into the city with Jacob, but you didn’t get to approach them because you were nervous.

However, right now, you were excited and you were just so happy and they felt like Maplehoof, only a lot bigger. You can’t help but kiss their snouts and nuzzle the stallion’s forehead, he smells like horse and snow. He lets you do this and the mare snorts a bit and you nuzzle her as well.

But then you remember your job and you huff, getting up on the bench, the reigns in your hands. Okay, you’ve watched enough horse videos to know what to do and you flick the reigns, telling them to go. The stallion neighs and walks, the mare moving right with him. You sit there, so excited, fuck the wedding, you were just gonna stay outside with the horses and enjoy this incredibly rare moment to be around horses that were actual-sized horses.

You love Maplehoof, she’s your precious little princess, but she’s a tiny pony that is about the same size as some of the My Little Pony toys your brother ‘ironically’ left for you, but… come on! These were fucking huge horses! You were a little intimidated by them though, only because you know how fucking strong horses can be and you didn’t expect them to be this big.

You quietly enjoy yourself as you lead the horses towards the church, where you see a crowd of people are waiting about and whatnot, some heading into the church; others were simply just talking to one another outside. It’s not snowing at the moment and it’s not too cold, so you guess its okay weather to just stand around and talk.

You found a place to stop the horses that didn’t block the streets. Some boy came up to you, telling you he’d take care of the horses and whatnot. You nodded, letting him do so as you opened the door to the carriage and helped Jacob out first and then Janie. After you helped them out, you followed them to the group of people outside, watching Jacob and Janie talk and interact with them while you stood a distance away.

You felt something watching you and you turn on your heel, seeing Dean ten feet away from you. He’s dressed in a similar fashion as you, only he’s got that bolo tie on around his neck. He gestures to the doors of the church and you nod, walking with him inside.

The inside has been decorated for the wedding, it’s pretty nice, you guess. You’re not really sure what to think of it because weddings aren’t your thing. “Glad to see that you came.” Dean said quietly.

“You invited me, as did Jacob and Janie.”

“Right. How are you… enjoying your stay here?” He looks a little uncomfortable asking this, probably still having a hard time trying to believe you but you think he does.

“It’s okay, I hate wallpaper cleaning and I’ve realized that at any given moment, I could get electrocuted because of primitive wiring and a lot of exposed conductive metal by the wires.”

Dean chuckled a little. “Yeah, I suggest rubber be used next time for safety.” He then looked you in the eye. “What’s with the… what are those?”

“My shades, they’re important to me, a gift from my older brother, before he died.”

“I made my little brother a pair of tinted glasses to help his eyes. They’re like mine.”

You gave a nod. “Are you happy about your little brother getting married?”

Dean nodded a bit. “Yes, this is a big thing for him and he really does care about Jaden. I never thought he would settle down, he had plans to go back to Texas and just travel America, see all there is to see, probably write songs about it in that weird style he’s been working on.”

With a soft sigh, Dean’s mouth twitched and you swore the smiled. “But then he met Jaden by complete accident when we moved here years ago. She was the first thing about London that made him happy.”

“Really?”

“Yes, see, we use to have an older brother who worked for Jacob’s great uncle, the very definition of ‘crazy old coot’, loved to go exploring and shoot butterflies for no good reason.” You snorted, that sounded like Jake. “Well, our older brother was really good friends with him and moved here to work for him at the factory.”

You gave a nod and noticed that the other you was frowning a bit as he moved to sit in a pew, patting the seat next to him. You glanced around real quick, seeing that there were people coming in, but there was still time before the actual ceremony. You take a seat and wait for him to continue.

“We stayed with the English family for a bit when he got here, David had been a little ass the whole trip from the states to here, but when he laid eyes on Jaden, he was smitten and she became his first friend here. As for me, I became friends with her cousin, Jacob. He was… heh, he’s always been the same, even when we were kids. He’s not only my business partner; he’s also my best friend.”

There was a look on his face, a look you know all too well. “Dean…” You started, but he interrupted.

“My brother isn’t here anymore, I wish he was so he could see this moment in David’s life. He missed mine as well, but I’m sure he would have been proud.” He’s looking at his hand, that’s when you notice a plain, silver band around his ring finger.

Dean is married.

You never noticed it until now, but holy shit, that’s a wedding ring.

“He was friends with my wife’s mother, that’s how I was introduced to Roxanne.”

You felt your heart tighten at that name, it’s pretty fucking obvious who that’s suppose to be. He turned his head and glanced over to where a small group of women were, one of them was Janie, but the one in the lavish pink dress, with the soft golden curls, and the soft mocha-tinted skin… you knew right away who that was.

You wanted to run out of the room, but there was no way that was going to happen, not when Roxanne turned and spotted her… husband. “Dean! There you are!” She called out, this Roxy had an accent, you believe it to be French. She made her way over and he stood up, taking her hand and giving it a kiss, making Roxanne giggle.

The pain in your chest felt worse and you looked away. You were right, in this world, this Roxy was happy with her life. Not only that, but she got what she wanted, she’s happily married to the Strider of her dreams.

You felt sick from the guilt of never giving your own best friend what she wanted for years.

“Oh, who is this?” You hear her ask and glance at her. Fuckin’ same face and eyes…

“This is Dirk, he’s a friend of Jacob and Janie’s. I told you about him before.” Dean spoke up and Roxanne gasped and nodded.

“Oh! You mentioned him before! Roxanne Strider.” She smiled at you, offering her hand. You get up and take it into your own hand, placing a kiss on the back of it, seeing her smile.

“Please to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Strider. Excuse me.” You step away from them and go outside, walking away from the other guests and to the side of the building. You suddenly gasp for air, not even realizing you had been holding it since you walked away from your look-a-like and… his wife.

You sigh heavily and lean against the stone wall, taking in the cold air. “You alright?” You turn, seeing someone standing nearby. You tense up as you look at the man who spoke, he was dressed in a crisp black suit, a single red rose was pinned to the jacket, a red rose that was the same shade of red as his eyes that peered at you from behind blond bangs.

“…” This had to be David, he looked just like the pictures of your brother you had.

He looked at you, a bit confused. “Yeah… just a bit overwhelmed.” You finally replied.

“I understand, I’m the same right now sir. I’m getting married today.” He chuckled nervously, wow, this is David, and so far, he seems like a nice guy. You’re still nervous because, shit, it’s your brother in a way, and he’s alive, but whatever. You need to suck it up and talk to him.

 “Well, it is a special day where you get married to someone you love, so it’s understandable that you’d be like this. Hopefully you won’t get cold feet.”

“Cold feet?”

“It means that you hightail it out of here and ditch the wedding.”

David snorted. “I’m not going to do that, I care about Jaden too much to run away. I’m just nervous about her thinking I’ll be a bad husband to her.”

“If she loves you as much as you love her, she’ll know that you’re a good husband.”

“You know a lot, don’t you?”

“I’m having relationship problems right now, you pick up on this stuff when you notice your… significant other might not be as happy as you.”

The other nodded. “Hey, who are you anyway, you look like Dean but… not, you invited to the wedding?”

“I’m Dirk, and yes, Jacob English invited me. I’m his personal assistant at home.” You hold out your hand for him to shake.

He takes it, giving it a lazy shake, but you think that’s normal with him. “David Strider, the groom and Dean’s younger brother.”

“Does anyone know you’re out here and not in there?” You ask as you slip your hands into your pockets, shit, its cold right now. 

David shook his head. “No, I sort of slipped out, I needed a moment to myself to just breathe and think. Why are you doing out here?”

“I needed the same thing.”

“Nerves?”

“Guilt.”

David raised an eyebrow and you shook your head. “Just something that’s been on my mind for the past few days, it’s been bothering the fuck out of me and I just… it finally hit me full force so I didn’t know what to do except run outside and just… breathe.”

“Same with me, not about the guilt, but about this whole wedding, I sort of understand how Dean felt when he got married. He was a nervous wreck for days before and after his marriage to Roxanne. But… his situation was different.”

You were about to ask on this when you were interrupted by someone approaching, why does everyone keep you from asking questions? “David! There you are!” The stranger said, he looked similar to Jake, just a bit taller, lankier, with raven black hair that looked like a typhoon had styled it for him.

“Jonathan, what are you doing out here?”

“I came to find you!” Jonathan pointed out. “Rosaline says that the wedding it about to begin and you need to be at the altar.” He then looked at you with bright blue eyes and smiled. “Hello, I like those strange things on your face.” He walked away and headed for the front of the church. You weirdly feel that this Jonathan guy is related to Janie. The blue eyes and buck teeth are a dead giveaway.

There was a brief silence between you and David before he sighed. “Alright, I best be getting back inside before Rosaline finds me and drags me inside, kicking and screaming. And knowing her, she will do that.” He stepped back from the wall and walked for the door. “You coming, Dirk?” He asked, glancing at you over his shoulder.

“Yes.” You reply simply and follow him inside. Once you step inside, you see people taking their seats and you turn to David. “You’ll do fine, if you love her as much as you say you do, you won’t run away.”

“Thanks Dirk, have you… done this before?”

You nod. “There’s someone back home that I love and I didn’t run away from them when I wanted to prove my love.”

“Where are they?”

“Back home, I’ll be returning to them and my friends in time. Now, enough talking, you’re getting married.” You smile a little at him and he smiles back, thank you once more before heading up to the altar. You watch for a moment before going over to where Jacob sat, taking a seat next to him.

You look up towards the front of the church, seeing David standing there at the altar, Vantas standing there, waiting to read his part. A moment later, everyone turns toward the doors as someone walked in. A beautiful young woman with long, black hair, dressed in a lovely white gown, walked down the aisle. You could see Jacob smiling out of the corner of your eyes, he looked so proud, this was obviously Jaden.

You watched as David and Jaden read their vows, they both looked nervous but both were so happy, especially when they were pronounced husband and wife. After the wedding, everyone left the church, ready to go to the Strider home. You found the horses hitched back up to the carriage, ready to go. After helping Janie and Jacob back in, you got back into the driver’s seat and followed the rest of the guests, lost in your thoughts but focused enough to drive without losing control of the horses.

The Strider estate was away from the city, from what you noticed, and it was rather large. Their home was bigger than Jacob’s, you’re just gonna assume that your Victorian version’s family has a shit load of money. Once on the grounds, you pulled the carriage up to the front of the large home, letting Jacob and Janie out. You were going to find someone to handle the carriage and horses when you noticed Dean walk up to you. “Here, let me help you.” He said before whistling, catching the attention of an annoyed short man who looked like he hasn’t slept in ages.

“Karl, could you take care of this?” He asked the shorter fellow, who looked like he wanted to protest, but nodded and grumbled under his breath as Dean turned back to you.

“Come, I want to talk t-!”

“Dean! Dirk!” Jacob was suddenly right next to the both of you, where the hell did he come from??? “What did you think of the wedding? I thought it was perfect! Did you see how beautiful Jaden looked up at the altar?”

“Yes, she was. Jacob, please go away, I’m trying to talk to…”

“Dirk, you need to meet Jaden- NO! You simply MUST meet her!” He grabbed your hand and pulled you away from Dean, towards the front doors. You glance back at your counterpart who you know just rolled his eyes as he slapped his forehead.

You were pulled along, barely having time to appreciate the interior of the Strider home, because Jacob brought you up to the blushing bride herself in one of the rooms, distracting her from some party guests. “Oh!” She blinked her electric green eyes, smiling a bit. “Hello Jacob, who is this?”

“Dirk Strider, Misses Strider.” You reply, bowing a bit and taking her hand, kissing the knuckles. She grinned at this.

“Oooh, how kind of you, wait, you’re a Strider?”

“Not of this family, but the irony of a similar appearance, matched with the same last name, did not pass over my head, madam.”

Jaden laughed at this. “Heh, I’m glad it didn’t. I’m sure you’ve gotten a lot of comments about looking like my brother-in-law, correct?”

“You are indeed correct, Mrs. Strider.”

“Please! Call me Jaden!” She was so bubbly and nice, but you knew that if you did something wrong, she’d beat your ass so hard that it would make all your splinters feel pain. Jake’s grandmother/Jacob’s cousin would not disappoint you if she did that.

“It’s a thrill to meet you, but now we’ve got to get ready for the celebration.” Jaden smiled before saying good bye, off to find where David was located.

You glance over at Jacob, about to say something, when you notice someone staring at you. She was a beautiful woman with sharp eyes and you’re pretty sure she has a sharp tongue to match. She’s leaning against the door frame to this room, staring right at you with orchid eyes, almost hidden by her bangs. She winks at you, in a way that you know is not flirtatious. It’s basically a message that translates to ‘find me later, we need to talk’.

You want to go after the woman as you watch her walk away, but Jacob takes you to the large dining hall where everyone is finding seats and getting ready to be served either a late lunch or an early dinner. You sit next to Jacob, though Dean sits right down next to you, making sure that no one else does. “We need to talk after the meal, alright?”

“I know. But a woman wants to talk to me as well.”

“What woman?”

You glance around the table and spot the girl from earlier before noticing that she had just taken a seat across from you. She looks like Roxy; this has to be the alternate version of her mother. She is making you really nervous with that all-knowing stare she is giving you. You glance at Dean out of the corner of your eye and he gives a small nod.

He knows who she is and the look on his face says that he wishes for her to join, because even he knows what that look means.

This woman knows who you are.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a perfectly good reason for the lack of updates. 
> 
> Mostly, it’s me working on a new story and school having started, along with a shit ton of moving around and whatnot. (My family moved into a new house and I moved five hours away)

“Rosaline Lalonde.” The lilac eyed woman spoke, her accent was French, just like Roxanne’s, but she spoke in such a delicate manner that you almost couldn’t tell there was a hint of snark behind it.

After the meal, she had silently beckoned you and Dean to a private study, away from the rest of the party guests. No one seemed to notice you had left; they were all too busy enjoying the festivities.

“Dirk Strider.” You introduced yourself, giving a slight bow.

“I know, I also know that you and Dean are pretty much the same person, only not. You two are the two sides of the same coin.”

Dean frowned and looked down at her. “Rosaline, how do you know all of this?  Wait, let me guess, this has to do with those strange ‘powers’ of yours, correct?”

“The same powers that allowed me to know about your true feelings towards your dear business partner, oh, and the same powers that allow me to know that Dirk is involved with that strange thunderstorm from days ago..? Maybe.” She smirked and winked. You both shivered, you knew that Roxy’s mother had strange abilities to see things others could not see, you didn’t know that they worked in this realm as well.

“Rosaline, I’ve told you before to never bring up the former of what you said.” Dean hissed, looking bothered. So, it seems that he really does have some feelings for Jacob, not that you blame him, he is you after all, you doubt that a version of you in any universe isn’t attracted to Jake.

Hal doesn’t count because he’s a fucking prick and he still somewhat fans a flame for Jake, even if he might be leaning more towards having a thing for Roxy.

Anyway, you notice the smirk on Rosaline’s painted lips as she shakes her head. “One of these days, Dean, you’ll have to say something.”

“… Why did you pull us aside to speak in here?” He said, trying to change the subject. Your curiosity as to why you’re here comes back tenfold as you look at the young blonde girl before you.

“It’s not hard to miss how much you two look alike, minus a few very minor differences, you’re practically mirror images. Same height and build, same faces, same eyes, how no one else seems to suspect something is up is beyond me, but I know that you two are one in the same.”

“How much do you know?” You asked.

“To be honest, I only know a few details, seeing as this is the first time I’ve met you. My friend from the clothing shop made mention of you, Dirk, said that she was rather confused to see Dean in such outlandish clothing, only for it to be some stranger that looked like him. I was suspicious and my sister is a gossiper, telling me over tea of Jacob’s new assistant and how he apparently looks like her beloved husband.”

Roxanne had mentioned that Dean had spoken of you, guess she told Rosaline. Damnit Roxy, don't gossip. “I had to see you with my own eyes,” She continued, “and when I spotted you talking to David before the wedding, I could tell you weren’t from here. Heck, you’re not even from this time.”

“I’m from the year 2425, actually. Though, technically, I’m also from the year 2011, I teleported back in time through shenanigans and the fact that time is fucking bullshit on Derse. But that’s besides the point, I’m from the future, and most likely, I’m not even from this universe.”

“What makes you say that?”

You shrug. “To be honest, I think it’s because of you guys. If this was my universe, there is no way that you two or the other six would even be here.”

Dean frowned, crossing his arms. “Explain, and who are these other six?”

“Take a seat, I’ve got a hell of a story to lay on you two, hope you’ve brought drinks and popcorn for the show.”

-

You tell Dean and Rosaline everything you can, you explain to them about yourself, about Roxy, Jane, and Jake. You tell them about yours and your friends’ guardians, how in another universe it’s reversed and that you’re their guardians.

You tell these two about the future, how it came to be the way it is in your timeline, about how your brother and Roxy’s mother were heroes, same with Jake’s grandma, and how Jane’s grandpa was a goofball of a man with a good heart. The game is explained, as best as you can explain it, and what happened before you ended up here.

Looking at Dean, you tell him how Jake isn’t just your best friend, he’s your boyfriend, and that you love him. “However,” You sigh, feeling a bit winded from all this talking, “I think he’s losing interest in me, we haven’t spoken much alone in the few days before I ended up here. So, yeah, I don’t know if there’s anything else I need to tell you or can tell you.”

Dean has a lost look on his face as he looks at you. “So… you and your Jacob, Jake… are really together?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know for how much longer. I wish it could be forever, but that’s both impossible and stupid. It ain’t gonna happen.”

“I would treasure what little time I would have with him, If I were you. You don’t understand how hard it is to be wanting a boy that you’ve fallen for the first moment you saw him.”

You scoffed. “Bullshit, I’ve been in love with him since I was a kid, he’s just… he’s perfectly imperfect. He’s full of flaws but he’s got so many good qualities, I admire him, and I love him. But I am ruining him.”

Dean sighed, shaking his head. “Jacob knows. I think.”

“Hm?” You blinked, looking right at him over your shades; this also catches Rosaline’s attention.

“He found out, when we went out drinking once. We came back here, plastered. I don’t drink often, but we were celebrating. Jacob looked so irresistible when we sat in my room and I leaned in and stole a kiss from him. This was before he was engaged to Janie, but they were still enjoying one another's company. But still, Jacob looked surprised and I felt like I had harmed both him and Janie. I avoided him for two weeks. When I started to speak to him, he acted as if the kiss never happened.”

“He was probably too drunk to remember it.” Rosaline frowned, looking at Dean with soft eyes.

“Yes, that’s what I believe. He doesn’t need to know I kissed him. Dirk,” He turns his attention back to you, looking at you with identical eyes, “treasure what time you’ve had and will have with him, alright?”

You give a nod. “I will, Dean. I can promise you that.”

“Not to be rude and change the subject,” Rosaline spoke up, catching both of your attention, “but I think I will be able to help you get back to your own realm, Dirk.”

“You can? How?” You asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It will take a few days; the person I need to speak with is out of town currently, prior engagement and all that, needed to get some business done, but when I’ve spoken to them, I shall contact you. I assume that you’ll most likely be at Jacob’s, or at least at the factory if he takes you to work with him. Don’t worry, I’ll find you.”

You nod once more, looking at the gothic woman. “Thank you, but why do you want to help me? What will you gain from this?”

“Just the satisfaction that I was correct on something I saw in a dream.” She smirked before taking a sip of tea from the tea set a maid had placed in the room half an hour ago.

You raise an eyebrow, but you don’t question it. You don’t question people on their dreams, your own are fucked up enough as it is. “Who is it that can help us?”

“You don’t know her, well, not up close and personal, but you might be aware of her. She knows more than I will ever know.”

So the person who would be helping you in a girl who knows more about your situation than Rosaline does. You are… a bit suspicious about this, to be perfectly honest. You have a good idea on who it could be, but you’re not sure if you should believe it.

You’ll just have to see in a few days.

\--

“You have a lot of amazing books in here, Jacob.” You said as you looked over the collection of books in the brunet’s study.

“Oh yes, a lot of the books are originals form when they were first published, long before I or my parents were born. Just old relics from the English family collection.” He chuckled from his desk, writing something down, doing paperwork.

Dean glanced over at you and Jacob from where he sat in the chair in front of the desk. “Yes, I’m surprised that they are in such good condition, considering how rough you are with things. But then again, when’s the last time you read any of them?” He smirked a little in Jacob’s direction.

The two of you earn a glare from Jacob for that, seeing as you started to snicker at your counterpart’s comment. “Why are you both in here while I’m working?” Jacob asked, grumbling as he did.

“I’m here to make sure you’re actually doing your work instead of playing with that polished rifle in your top desk drawer, and Dirk wants to look at your books because you gave him the day off.”

“It’s Sunday, he doesn’t really have to work today. And neither should I!”

“You decided to put off those forms and letters and they’re due next week. You need to read over them and sign them now, or you’ll be in trouble. Again.”

Jacob pouted a little. “Why don’t you do it? Since you’re so insistent upon this work being done.”

“Nope.” He snorted. “I finish all my paperwork in the morning, spend the rest of the day checking out the machines and making sure you don’t skip out on work.”

“Seems to me,” You speak up, “that the company is under Jacob’s name, but it’s really Dean who runs it.”

Dean chuckled lightly and Jacob rolled his eyes. “You two are out to get me!” He pointed at you both, glaring, before sitting back in his seat. “Say, Dean, Dirk? Why did Rosaline want to speak with you?”

You blink, looking at Jacob before making eye contact with Dean. He frowns, probably thinking of the same thing as you, ‘how did Jacob notice that?’.

You glance down at the book you had been looking at, Starry Messenger, a good read, and looked towards the man who looks like your boyfriend. “Well, she wanted to know who I was. I mean, it’s a bit odd for a man to suddenly come here, looking like your brother-in-law, you’re gonna want to question him.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“I told her who I was.” You felt a little uncomfortable by the stare you were getting from Jacob. “What?”

“Dirk, I… is there something you’re not telling me? I mean, you were speaking with her for a long time and I heard you say some weird things. Plus…” He pulled something from his pocket, setting it on the desk.

Your phone, where did he get that?

Your eyes widen, you had left in here, the day before the wedding. You had been cleaning up some things in here, it fell from your pocket, you had put it aside and it slipped your mind until now.

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you frowned and walked away from the bookshelves towards Jacob. You grabbed the phone and turned it on, looks like it’s time to tell him the truth.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s short, but the story is almost over, I think there’s just one chapter left, I’ll make it long. 
> 
> I’m planning on doing art for the story, when I figure out how you put pictures into here, I’ll do it. I really want to draw Jacob, Dean, and crew. 
> 
> And Dirk in a nightgown, that’s always fun.


End file.
